Installation

Prerequisites

VegasAfterglow requires the following to build:

Note

If you install via pip (recommended), you generally do not need to install these C++ tools manually. This section is primarily for users building the C++ library directly or installing the Python package from the source code.

C++20 compatible compiler:
- Linux: GCC 10+ or Clang 13+
- macOS: Apple Clang 13+ (with Xcode 13+) or GCC 10+ (via Homebrew)
- Windows: MSVC 19.29+ (Visual Studio 2019 16.10+) or MinGW-w64 with GCC 10+
CMake 3.15+:
- Required for building the python package from source
Build tools:
- Make (GNU Make 4.0+ recommended) [if you want to compile & run the C++ code]

Python Installation

From PyPI (Recommended)

The easiest way to install VegasAfterglow is via pip:

pip install VegasAfterglow

This installs the core physics engine (light curves, spectra, jet models). To also install MCMC fitting support:

pip install VegasAfterglow[mcmc]

VegasAfterglow requires Python 3.8 or higher.

From Source

To install from source, first clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/YihanWangAstro/VegasAfterglow.git
cd VegasAfterglow

Then, build and install:

pip install .

GitHub Repository

The source code is available on GitHub:

VegasAfterglow GitHub Repository

C++ Installation

For advanced users who want to compile and use the C++ library directly:

Clone the repository (if you haven’t already):

git clone https://github.com/YihanWangAstro/VegasAfterglow.git
cd VegasAfterglow

Compile the static library:
```
make lib
```
This allows you to write your own C++ problem generator and use the provided VegasAfterglow interfaces.
(Optional) Compile and run tests:
```
make tests
```

Requirements

Python 3.8 or higher
C++20 compatible compiler (for building from source)
NumPy (automatically installed when using pip)
For MCMC fitting: pip install VegasAfterglow[mcmc] (installs bilby, emcee, dynesty)

Interactive Web Tool

The interactive web tool is deployed across multiple global regions for low latency. If none of the servers provide a satisfactory experience from your location, you can run it locally for the best responsiveness:

# terminal 1: backend
cd webtool/backend
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e '../..[webtool]'
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

# terminal 2: frontend
cd webtool/frontend
cp .env.local.example .env.local
npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. For detailed deployment options, see webtool/README.md and webtool/DEPLOY.md.